Hellebore heaven

Needing some change for the parking meter, I found myself having to buy this pot of little beauties for by the front door. A necessary expenditure, you understand…

I have allowed myself to snip a couple for inside and they really are exquisite. Such subtle colours and by now nearly transparent; lunar and stony. It has (for now) stopped me heading out under cover of darkness, snippers in pocket, to the hellebores in the front gardens of suburbia. Don’t judge, I’m fighting the urge! Mind you, the blossom is out now and it’s getting harder to resist. I blame my mother, a famous scrumper.